Ashley Cole can’t wait to pay back Mourinho’s faith with big performances…
Chelsea defender Ashley Cole is determined to pay back Jose Mourinho’s faith in him, according to The Independent.
The 32-year-old England man gave a rare press-conference in Jakarta, alongside his new manager.
“I’ve won things but, from day one when I first started playing football, I’ve always wanted to win,” Cole told the packed room of Asian journalists, who applauded him into the room.
“That feeling has never gone away. Having the manager back now from 2006 when he bought me, I still feel I owe him something. I didn’t play as well as I could back then, and as well as I have for Chelsea since.
Mourinho brought Cole to the club from Arsenal in controversial circumstances seven years ago, and the Blues were fined £375,000 after they were accused of tapping up the left-back.
Since then, Ashley Cole has won virtually everything there is to win in club football with the West-London side, including a Premier League, four FA Cups, a League Cup, a Champions League and a Europa league.
Despite this wonderful career, Cole is hungry to win more things under the incoming Portuguese boss.
“I owe him a lot, personally. As a team, I hope we can go on and win many trophies. It’s a big club and we need to win trophies. With the new players coming in, I think we can win back the Premier League title.”
Cole signed a one-year contract extension in January, and will likely be one of the first names on the team sheet under Mourinho, who like his fullbacks to be defensively solid first and foremost.
Few will bet against Mourinho and Cole adding to their hoards of titles following the charismatic manager’s return to Chelsea this summer. Manchester clubs City and United both have installed new managers in the close-season, and it could be Mourinho’s previous experience at Chelsea that will give them the edge.
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